Samsung Galaxy Unpacked August 2026: Live updates from the launch of the next S26

Screenshot by Cherlynn Low (Samsung) Samsung is hosting another Unpacked today, and the company says the fanfare is for the "newest addition to the S26 family." Given we've already seen a trio of Galaxy S26 flagships earlier this year, and being very familiar with Samsung's device lineup, we can make a highly educated guess that this is likely going to be the launch of the S26 FE.  The FE series is typically a lower priced version of the company's premium handsets, usually with some compromises on cameras and processors. In its announcement for this event, Samsung said the next S26 family member was "purposefully designed to bring many Galaxy S26 experiences from camera to AI, along with the latest One UI, to those who look for what truly matters most to them." We don't expect there to be many surprises, nor for the presentation to last very long. The show starts at 8AM ET, which gives us some time to hang out with you all in the meantime. Leave us a comment below with your thoughts and questions, we'd love to chat with you here!  Live Coverage is Over 59 Updates 9:52 AM EDT Cherlynn Low The event ended over an hour ago, and to summarize, it was really a bunch of short videos of people talking about the S26 FE. These people included Huh Yunjin from Kpop band Le Sserafim and creator Valstech. One of the more noteworthy things about the S26 FE is its $699.99 starting price, which is about $50 higher than the previous generation.  As you can see, Mat has already received (and unboxed) his review unit of the Galaxy S26 FE and will be putting it through its paces before we publish our evaluation. Thanks for joining us today! We appreciate you reading our words. 9:41 AM EDT Mat Smith And, as fate would have it, just as we close our Galaxy Unpacked liveblog, this arrived: 9:32 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Alright, a final spec dump before I actually close this liveblog for today. The S26 FE's triple rear cameras feature a 50-megapixel main camera with a f/1.8 aperture. The 12MP ultrawide has a 123-degree field of view and a f/2.2 aperture, while the 8MP telephoto offers 3x optical zoom and up to 30x digital zoom. Its aperture is f/2.4. 9:27 AM EDT Cherlynn Low There's actually been quite a lot of Apple news this week already, including a new cheaper polishing cloth. But I know my audience and will not bore you with Apple things. Instead, might I interest you in a Pokemon-themed Fitbit Air? Google announced it this week too. 9:22 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Speaking of, if you're a Samsung fan you probably don't care, but Apple did announce the date of the next iPhone launch just yesterday. It will be happening on September 9. Which I guess is somewhat poetic because 9+9 = 18 and we're expecting the iPhone 18? 9:17 AM EDT Cherlynn Low That should be the last phone-related Unpacked from Samsung this year, and I'm expecting maybe another surprised event later in the fall. I'm still holding out hope for a new Galaxy Ring, and there's also probably some kind of XR-centric launch coming.  9:09 AM EDT Cherlynn Low By the way, while our understanding is that there will only be 128GB and 256GB options available, we're seeing reports that in other regions like Europe and the UK, there will also be a 512GB model. Just not in the US. 9:03 AM EDT Cherlynn Low I'm ready to wrap this up but I have a... spidey sense... that a lot of you are here. Do you have questions? You can check out our hands-on with the S26 FE for some early impressions. Or leave a comment with your burning thoughts! 8:54 AM EDT Cherlynn Low I'll just list some final specs out here before I leave. The S26 FE is rated IP68 for water- and dust-resistance. Its 6.7-inch FHD+ display refreshes at up to 120Hz and gets as bright as 1,900 nits. That's not very bright to me, but I'm also more familiar with the numbers of recent flagships like the Pixel 11 Pro. Oh and I guess it'll ship with Android 17 and One UI 9.  8:49 AM EDT Cherlynn Low What else would you all like to know about the S26 FE? (Comment in the system below I guess). We will be getting ready to review it soon, I'm sure, but in the meantime I have specs! The wireless charging speed is 15W, for instance. 8:40 AM EDT Cherlynn Low One more little spec tidbit for you all. The Galaxy S26 FE comes with one of Samsung's Exynos 2500 processors, not a Snapdragon chip. 8:37 AM EDT Cherlynn Low I know better than to fully trust product images by companies, but this one does look quite gorgeous. The "RGB" at the end of the file name does tell me something about the color processing though. 8:32 AM EDT Cherlynn Low I have to say, I am liking the look of that green hue. In some of the product pictures it almost looks iridescent. 8:29 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Here's the whole family of S26 devices. 8:27 AM EDT Cherlynn Low For those of you who are more visual processors, here are some images Samsung shared with media. 8:25 AM EDT Cherlynn Low If you're just joining us now, the Unpacked "event," if you can call it that, is over. It was a 10-minute video stream, really, that featured Huh Yunjin from Le Sserafim and creator Valstech. Not much was shared by way of specs, which I guess is what I'm now here for. Leave us your questions, or read our hands-on of the S26 FE! 8:23 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Battery capacity is at 4,900mAh, RAM starts at 8GB, storage options are 128GB and 256GB.  8:22 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Jay Victor in the comments asks "nothing on how much RAM or storage or battery capacity?" And yes, Samsung's video stream did not get into details BUT have I got the answers for you. 8:19 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Sam says that, starting at $700, the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is "a handset similar in size to an S26+ with specs closer to an A57." I'm not sure I would pay FE money for A-series specs! 8:16 AM EDT Cherlynn Low I'm sure this could have been an email but what can I say? I like to liveblog. Like Mat said, our own Sam Rutherford has gone hands-on with the S26 FE already, calling it a perfectly cromulent budget flagship. While I think "budget" and "flagship" makes for a bit of an oxymoron, I think he makes a few good points. 8:15 AM EDT Cherlynn Low I promise you, Mat, it's over. The video ended with a quick summary of what the S26 FE offers for the money, before fading to black on the last notes of a song with the lyrics echoing "I'm good with it." 8:14 AM EDT Mat Smith Yep, that's it! Thanks for watching along, and you can check out our first impressions from our own Sam Rutherford, right here: Galaxy S26 FE hands-on. 8:13 AM EDT Mat Smith The stream is just blank. I don't think it's over. Maybe it is? I had to check my internet connection! 8:13 AM EDT Cherlynn Low The video also calls out the Pistachio color, which I'm pretty sure is also a color option for the Pixel 11 lineup. 8:13 AM EDT Mat Smith That's $50 up from the last FE phone. Could have been worse? 8:12 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Important stuff: The Galaxy S26 FE will be available on Sept 4, starting at $699. I was right on the money! 8:12 AM EDT Mat Smith Love that Valstech is decked out in Samsung wearables — watches and smartrings she's not usually rocking on her own social media posts. 8:12 AM EDT Cherlynn Low I'm not sure what I'm watching... Is Unpacked just a YouTube collab zone now? Anyway, Valstech talked about how AI wasn't stuffed into the S26 FE just to say it has AI, before talking about AI features like Document Scan and Now Brief.  8:11 AM EDT Mat Smith I was an entire minute ahead of you, Cher. 8:10 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Valstech gave us a rundown of the camera specs (but does say she is saving the real impressions for another video). I'm sure Mat will add the full specs shortly, but I heard the front camera has a 12-megapixel sensor. 8:10 AM EDT Mat Smith Camera time! Triple camera setup with a 50-megapixel main sensor with image stabilization, a telephoto 8MP camera and a 12MP ultrawide. 8:09 AM EDT Cherlynn Low We're learning about battery life and charging speeds now, which goes up to 45W for wired charging, getting to about 69 percent in 30 minutes. We also heard about a 3nm processor onboard, and that the S26 FE will be the first phone to ship with One UI 9. 8:09 AM EDT Mat Smith Specs time! 120Hz, 6.7-inch display, up to 1,900 nits of brightness. 8:08 AM EDT Cherlynn Low "It definitely doesn't feel like Samsung treated it as an afterthought," Valstech said of the S26 FE. I have thoughts about scripts I will keep to myself. 8:07 AM EDT Cherlynn Low "Let's see what the tech experts are saying," the person says, and the video jumps to an unboxing video by "Valstech." I'm offended we weren't considered! (Kidding, we wouldn't take payment from Samsung to make this sort of content.) 8:06 AM EDT Mat Smith We're getting a run-through of other upgrades: Circle to Share from Google, Horizon Lock on the camera app and FanCam (again). 8:06 AM EDT Cherlynn Low We've moved away from Yunjin to another person who uses the Circle to Search feature to look up the pop star's outfit. 8:05 AM EDT Cherlynn Low She uses Galaxy AI to edit her pictures by prompting the system to replace backgrounds of group photos. Then she sends them to her friends. She's also talking up Google's Gemini Omni video generator. 8:05 AM EDT Mat Smith A brief mention of QuickShare which works across Android and iPhones. 8:04 AM EDT Cherlynn Low She's now talking about all the photos she takes with the phone. By the way, I never believe these celebrity endorsers who say they use these devices they're paid to promote. Yunjin? With an FE? Hard to take seriously. 8:04 AM EDT Mat Smith ProVisual Engine is a recent Samsung upgrade to how Galaxy S phones process images. This is the first time it's landed on an FE device. 8:03 AM EDT Cherlynn Low "This is probably my favorite feature: My FanCam" Me too, Yunjin, me too. This was launched last year with Samsung's foldables as a video editing tool to follow one character around in your footage. Yunjin has a practical purpose for it, as she needs to watch herself in her band's dance videos to make sure she's hitting her moves. 8:03 AM EDT Mat Smith She is a member of the South Korean girl group Le Sserafim.  8:02 AM EDT Cherlynn Low We're starting with the filming of a dance challenge video with the S26 FE, which I guess is a way to showcase the horizon lock steadying feature. 8:01 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Now we're seeing Huh Yunjin share a day in her life with her phone. "With the Galaxy S26 FE, capturing my day is honestly so easy." Looks like cameras are the focus? 8:00 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Things have kicked off with a trailer video that started with someone saying "A good color gets me every time." Me too, friend. 8:00 AM EDT Cherlynn Low The usual pre-show disclaimer has also just appeared. It's about to start, so buckle up, I guess! 7:59 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Well the Samsung theme song has been playing on the stream which you can watch on YouTube if you're sick of us. 7:58 AM EDT Mat Smith Please stop spiraling on the live blog before it even begins, Cherlynn.  7:53 AM EDT Cherlynn Low As we get closer to this thing starting (in about 6 minutes!), I am beginning to wonder if this could all be an email.  7:51 AM EDT Mat Smith I'd say this: look at the cameras, look at the processor and look at the battery capacity. So much of a new phone's utility centers on those. 7:46 AM EDT Mat Smith That's my main focus. When all the new phones cost more, it's time to look to the past! 7:35 AM EDT Cherlynn Low For what it's worth the base S26 retailed at $899, and I'd guess the S26 FE will come in at $699. I feel like you could get a really good phone from 2025 for that price! 7:26 AM EDT Cherlynn Low I guess what, if anything, did you like about the AI in the S26? If you can remember your review from what feels like eons ago now, Mat! 7:23 AM EDT Mat Smith I'd be surprised if Samsung offers us anything new, AI-wise, since the S26. Perhaps a camera feature or new Gemini hooks? 7:22 AM EDT Cherlynn Low As a reminder, we've already seen the standard S26 series earlier this year. Mat even reviewed the base S26 for us and found it mostly iterative. I liked the privacy display feature in the S26 Ultra but I doubt the FE will offer it. 7:12 AM EDT Cherlynn Low I'm curious what people think is a good price for a midrange phone and what features are non-negotiable for the cost. Is it more AI? Do you want more AI? Because I think today we might hear about AI. 7:01 AM EDT Mat Smith Good morning! I'm intrigued to see where Samsung prices its new mid-range phone. Also, what compromises will the company make, specs-wise? 7:00 AM EDT Cherlynn Low Good morning everyone and welcome to our liveblog of what I will henceforth refer to as the mini Unpacked of the year. We're expecting Samsung to unveil the Galaxy S26 FE today, which honestly shouldn't take too much time.